Between Trust and Confessions
by Cengiz
Summary: One-Shot-Collection revolving around Chloe and Lucifer. Chapter 5: So now it was finally there. The moment she'd seen his face. Had seen the real him. And he wanted nothing more than to talk about it. But the Problem was: She didn't. And that tore him apart. (The specific ratings for the stories are within the chapters.)
1. Candy for the Devil

**A/N:** My dear readers. I've decided to put the one-shots all in one collection called 'Between Trust and Confessions'. This way I don't always have to create a new Story, but can upload a new chapter instead.

The first chapter contains the story: **Candy for the Devil**

This little short story here came up into my mind at the upcoming episode name "Candy Morningstar". And now it will finally be posted. It is the only possible scenario for me following the line: "Lucifer comes home from Vegas with a stripper at his side". Or maybe it's just the shipper in me that can depict Lucifer with no other than just one person at his side ;)

It is **rated M** for **mild language** and **sexual references** , nothing too big, but please be aware of it.

This story is **beta-read** by Daemon. You're awesome! As always :D

Enjoy!

* * *

"Candy!" Sam the guard aka protector of the girls called loudly into the backstage area.

Dull clicking noises resounded from the ground as she walked with her high heels towards him, expectantly asking, "Yeah?"

"See the suit sitting at the pole podium over there?" he asked and nodded with his head into the direction.

Chloe followed his gaze, her facial expression almost froze when she spotted him. ' _He can't be serious!_ ' she thought, and turned her head back to Sam, asking him nonchalantly, "What is with him?"

"He wants you to dance for him," Sam simply answered.

"I'm having my break now," she denied with a bored voice. "Send Sugar over."

Sam shook his head. "He paid the double price and asked specifically for you."

"So?" she retorted, annoyed.

"The boss wants you to go," he clarified, playing out his trump card.

She glared at him, narrowing her eyes, and let out a low growl. "Whatever!" she replied and made her way over to the stairs.

"Good girl!" Sam praised her, sending a warm smile after her.

Chloe skilfully walked up the five stairs and onto the platform. Her stiletto heels announced each one of her steps with a loud clack as she strode along the catwalk, heading to the right end of its T-shaped form.

Her work clothes consisted of a very thin black bra that let her skin shine through, and only the black gems, placed in the right places, kept her nipples from being exposed to all too prying eyes. The matching black panties over her black fishnet tights had at least a reinforced silk element to cover her private parts. Her lascivious look made all male eyes turn towards her the further she went to the end of the platform. At least this outfit had earned her plenty of tips, not that she needed them.

She grabbed the pole stick with one hand and turned around with a spinning motion, bringing the long metal to her back. "So, mister," she started and slowly squatted down to give him a show. Both her bent legs were stretched to each side as she reached the lowest point, just above her heels.

"Morningstar," Lucifer finished with a singsong tone. His dark eyes stared at her, up and down, and he had trouble not to focus his eyes too long on the deep insight that her appearance offered him. His right arm still spread over the back of the chair next to him, he grabbed the knot on his tie with his free hand, loosening it a little, and ran his tongue over his lower lip.

Chloe placed her knees on the cool platform and crawled towards him like a cat, her back curved inward to its end, presenting her chest and behind as the most protruding peaks of her body as she leant further towards him and asked in a breathy voice, "What do you want?"

Lucifer swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. What he wanted right now was to play with her through the various scenarios his mind had painted for him when he saw her approaching him. And he wished he had her in those clothes right in his bedroom. But that wasn't the reason he was here for. He got himself into an upright sitting position and leered at her, answering, "A private lap dance from you." His tongue unwittingly poked against the lower part of his cheek, making it visible from the outside and very clear what he really desired.

"Forget it!" Chloe countered, grinning cockily, but her eyes looked daggers at him.

He chuckled lightly, opened his jacket and reached in with his other hand, retrieving a large bundle of banknotes, and tossed it onto the platform, directly underneath her.

She glanced down at it and growled quietly. This money was more than she earned in six months, in her real job. Raising her head again, she stared at him for a second longer, narrowing her eyes, before a big fake smile settled down on her lips. She elegantly rolled off the platform, grabbing the bundle in the process. Turning halfway around, she grabbed him by his tie and dragged him along for a few steps. She let go again when she heard him follow like a good little devil and made her way over to Sam.

She tossed the money on the counter and went to the private cabins, grabbed the bead curtain of the first room and gestured him to go in first.

Lucifer reached back into his inside pocket, pulled out another bundle of notes, and held it up, commenting nonchalantly, "I'd prefer a more private cabin, such as the one at the end of the hall."

Chloe only looked past him, over to Sam and rolled her eyes in annoyance. When she saw his nod, she let go of the curtain and went to the end of the hall.

The money was grasped from Lucifer's hand, and he quickly followed his partner to the last cubicle directly opposite the entrance, his eyes fixed on her two butt cheeks bobbing up and down with every step. She held the curtain open again, and when he'd passed her, she quickly let go, grabbed him by his shirt and shoved him backwards into a chair.

She leaned forward, bringing her face as close to his ear as possible without attracting the attention of Sam's watching eyes outside and hissed at him under her breath, "What the hell are you doing here?" She grabbed his tie, loosened it completely and pulled it off of his neck as she straightened herself again, throwing the fabric behind her.

"Getting a lap dance?" Lucifer answered insecurely, his voice turning higher at the end.

Chloe growled at him again, angry. He knew exactly what she'd meant. "You're risking my cover!" she countered in a hushed voice and started her show by moving her hip from side to side in front of him. A little louder, she told him, "Keep your hands at your sides. If I feel just one finger of yours on my body, I'll cut it off." Seeing his smug grin and agreeing nod, she walked around him, bringing herself out of his sight, before she put her heel on the chair, right between his legs.

Lucifer skidded back a little to bringing more space between his crown jewels and her very thin and very dangerous-looking heel before relaxing again and turning his head to her bent knee, admiring the perfect shape a little bit while she moved her upper body closer to his head. Both her hands ran down his chest on each side of his neck, and he felt the fabric of her bra with the hard gemstones brushing against his ear. He looked up and straight into her sea-blue eyes as he informed her, "You are already at risk."

She hid her bewilderment under a well-trained salacious gaze and moved her head down, licked the outer side of his ear and whispered, "What do you mean?" She stepped back, walked around him and stopped between his legs. With her back presented to him, she supported herself on his thighs and, wiggling her bottom, crouched down in front of him. When she got up again, she slowly glided up on him until her butt was right above his groin. She pressed herself firmly into him, dropped her head back, and moved her butt from side to side.

Lucifer grabbed the hind legs of the chair to prevent himself from reaching forward and burying his fingers in the flesh of her breasts, which he saw protruding from his angle. He clenched his teeth, swallowed the groan that threatened to leave his mouth, and took a deep breath to get himself under control. Her body, pressed against his own, was almost too much for him to handle. He leant his head closer to hers and whispered, "Your lieutenant sends me." Her arms moved up and clasped his neck and he felt her fingertips grabbing his collar while she continued rubbing her body against his. Soft moans escaped her mouth, making clear that she knew exactly what her job was. And he realised she was damn good at it. He swallowed again, taking another deep breath, and then used all his self-control as he continued, "They've been trying to reach you for several days now. Someone got a tip. You're no longer safe here. They sent me to get you out."

Chloe straightened up, her behind neatly nestled into his lap. She reached back with both hands, opened the clip of her bra and took it off. She looked back at him, grinning evilly, and rubbed the little piece over his face a few times. Then she tossed it into one of the corners of the room, as well. Covering her breasts with her hands, she stood up, turned around to him, and then squatted down a little until her chest was above his thighs. She laid her hands on his legs, bent forward, and slowly moved back up again, making sure that the hard nipples of her breasts led a path from his lap across his chest.

Beneath his shirt, Lucifer felt her little peaks brush against his skin, and the contact made his nerves wildly fire shock waves through his body. As she stood above him, her chest too close to his face to resist, he leapt forward and clutched one of her breasts with his mouth, teasingly biting her into the hard tip.

"Hey!" Chloe cried out, backed away, and slapped him in the face. "Candy!" she heard Sam's punitive voice calling her from outside, and she quickly turned her head, glaring at the guard, before she turned her attention back to the man in front of her, and threw a deprecating stare at him.

"Sorry, couldn't hold that one back," Lucifer bluffed it out and grinned cheekily. "But you didn't say anything about my mouth," he defended himself and his grin widened. He heard her soft growl again and chuckled lightly.

Chloe narrowed her eyes. _'So you wanna play,_ ' she thought, and lifted her leg, placing her heel back down next to him, pressing her knee into his side as she bent forward again. His face was right in between her breasts and she ran her fingers through his hair, slightly pulling at it. He tilted his head back and, with that, looked straight into her eyes again. Their faces were only a few inches apart from each other and she decreased the gap, licking her lips before they turned into a wicked grin. Suddenly, she grabbed his hair on the back of his head and pulled it violently, making him cry out in pain. "Sorry, couldn't hold that one back."

Lucifer chuckled loudly and praised her, "Well-played." Her fingers ran further through his hair, slightly scratching his scalp, and he purred with pleasure, closing his eyes to relish the treatment to the fullest. He felt her left leg moving down and the back of her thigh pressed against his own as she placed it on the floor. Then she climbed over his other leg with hers and sat back on his lap. He opened his eyes, feeling her fingers moving out of his hair, and lowered his head again, looking at her.

"How do you plan to get me out?" she asked, continuing their conversation from earlier, and bent her upper body back. She wrapped her legs around his thighs to give herself the necessary support as her upper body bent further back, almost in a horizontal position, before she pulled herself back up, using only the muscles of her tummy. She moved her hip, rubbing a little more against his groin some more before she repeated her swing.

Lucifer grinned smugly at her, watching her bending back again as he announced, "As my wife!"

"What?" Chloe shrieked surprised, her eyes wide open, but she still managed to keep her voice in check. The surprise, however, made her concentration falter. She slipped off her support and expected her back to hit the hard concrete any second when she suddenly felt Lucifer's hands around her, intercepting her fall and pulling her back into his lap. She heard the heavy footsteps of Sam's boots approaching and quickly stood up from Lucifer's lap. As she looked over at the entrance, she signalled her co-worker that everything was all right and sighed with relief as he returned to his observation post.

Chloe turned around and sat back down on him with her back resting against his chest. Her face was close to his, and she started rocking her hip again from side to side, firmly pressing her butt into his groin. "My boss pays me a bonus for every erection of my customers, so you better: Get. Yours. Up," she told him demandingly and moved her arms back up and around his neck.

"Nothing easier than that," Lucifer responded in a hushed voice, grinning smugly at her, and suddenly Chloe felt very clearly poking into her back what she'd gotten a sneak peek of a year ago.

/-/

Lucifer and Chloe made their way through the little chapel, stopping in front of a pastor in an Elvis costume.

"What can I do for you?" the elderly man asked friendly.

Lucifer smiled at him and purred, "We'd like to get married."

* * *

 **A/N:** The end. I hope you liked it. Please leave a comment and let me know :D

Have a nice day!

:o)


	2. Partners

**A/N:** My dear readers. Here comes the second story of the one-shot-collection.

 **Partners**

It is **rated T** for the mention of torture.

This story is **beta-read** by Daemon. All remaining mistakes are my own. :D

Enjoy!

* * *

Chloe stared at the flickering light above her. It was the only thing that kept her awake, day and night. She didn't know how long she'd been here already, or what time it was. But she knew, she wouldn't let them win. So she kept herself awake.

The wounds on her wrists where the chains had cut deeply into her flesh sent a sharp pain through her body. But pain was good. It meant she was still alive. She chuckled and then shivered again from the cold within her, caused by her wet clothes sticking to her. She leant her head against her arm, the only rest she allowed her emaciated body; the only rest she allowed herself when they didn't look. But as soon as they came back, and that they did often enough, she would straighten her head again, staring them directly into their eyes. And no sound would leave her mouth when they connected the wires to her body again, sending shock waves through her.

But she also knew her strength was ceasing. She could barely hold her eyes open when one of the guards rushed into the room, barring the door. She tried to straighten her head again, tried to keep her eyes open, but it didn't work this time. She was too exhausted. Sleep was already in her bones, gnawing at every cell in her body. Her lips were dry, and she still smelled the dried blood from where they were cracked open. But albeit she was so thirsty, each time when they had come back into the room and she had glared at them, she had only slowly tilted her head backwards when the water was poured down on her, letting it look like she didn't really need anything from them. But secretly she eagerly awaited the liquid, drinking it hastily before they turned it off and started the electroshocks. She didn't care about those shocks. They were so many, so often, that she already got used to it.

She also didn't feel the hunger any longer. That only added up to her exhaustion. Her energy was running low. She knew that. And she also knew that no one else was aware of where she was. She'd still been on medical leave from the shot wound in her shoulder that Jimmy Barnes had given her. The wound that was throbbing so painfully now. But villains didn't care about pain or sick notes. Especially not when they were old faces that still had a bone to pick with her, or several.

She was tired, so tired that she'd already thought about giving up. But that wasn't an option for her.

She couldn't give up now.

She wouldn't!

Screams were echoing through the building, accompanied by shots being fired. Chloe opened her eyes again, staring at the door that was suddenly ripped open as if it was made of paper. Then, a figure entered the cold and sticky cell of hers. The guard who had hidden in here tried one final attack towards the figure which looked like Hellboy, but without the horns and was thinner, much thinner, right out of a comic book.

Hellboy threw the guard through the room, and with a loud bounce, he smashed into the opposite wall before he fell limply to the ground. Chloe blinked again and saw Hellboy turning to her, his fiery red eyes staring at her like two laser points. She grinned cheekily. She didn't know why, but grinning seemed the most reasonable thing to do now.

She shut her eyes for another brief moment, and when she opened them again, Hellboy was gone; replaced by a man approaching her, covered in black, the same fiery eyes fixed on her as he came closer.

Her mind was playing her tricks, Chloe concluded. It had to be; caused by the dehydration and lack of nutrition. She took a breath. Her whole body hurt when she filled her lungs, too exhausted to even breathe properly, and she chuckled again. But it quickly died down. As well as the grin on her face, which shrunk into a faint smile. She shut her eyes again.

The next thing she recognised were two warm hands on her cheeks, lifting up her head, and the warmth from their fingers spread through her body, awakening the last resorts of energy that were still inside of her, giving her new strength, and she opened her eyes again.

Two brown pupils were staring at her now. They looked gentle and strongly reminded her of brown tempest stones. Her mother had had a thing for stones when she was young, especially those with spiritual powers. She'd never believed in such things, but right now, she could feel this power running through her body, heating her up, supplying her with the much-needed energy. Just like what tempest stones were known of.

The two warm hands wandered from her cheeks down beneath her shoulders, grabbing her, and lifted her up. Her own arms were so stiff that she didn't even have to keep them straight to free the chains from the hook. She let her arms drop down, and they landed on a hard but also soft cushion, covered by fabric. No, not only cushion. Her fingers grabbed at something; something that was small and smooth and she could rub it in between them.

Chloe opened her eyes again as she felt herself being lifted in a somewhat horizontal position, and this time she could concentrate enough to recognise a face. "Oh, Lucifer," she uttered and a pleased smile appeared on her face again.

"Hello, Chloe," she heard his calm voice reply.

"You were Hellboy," she commented and let out a low chuckle, closing her eyes again and playing a little longer with the soft hair on the back of his head.

"I was what?" Lucifer questioned, staring down at the limp figure in his arms. He smiled relieved at her, even though she couldn't see it. Her eyes had closed again as he carried her out of the room. Her head rested on his shoulder, close to his ear. He felt even breaths leaving her mouth, and gripped tighter around her.

Lucifer had told himself that he only rescued her because she was a much too interesting human being to let die. But when he got the frantic call from the douche, asking him if Chloe was with him, if he'd seen her; when he'd heard the panic in his voice, something else had stirred up inside of him. Something he couldn't quite decipher, yet.

He stepped outside, barely registering the several S.W.A.T. teams rushing into the building when he made his way over to the ambulance vehicle. These little humans were too slow. As always! They'd waited for more than a day before they called him. It had taken Maze only an hour, two at most, to find out who had captured her, and where she was. And he'd decided to go there by himself.

No, he would not have relied on the S.W.A.T. team to get her out. Not when it came to Chloe. He would never entrust her life to someone else.

They were partners now: He was hers, and she was his.

She was _his_.

* * *

 **A/N:** The end. I hope you liked it. Please leave a comment and let me know :D

Have a nice day!

:o)


	3. Vulnerable

**A/N:** Hello my dear readers. Here comes the third story of my one-shot collection.

 **Vulnerable**

For those of you who are waiting for an update on my "The sweetest taste of sin" story. I'm sorry, but this will take a little while. Somehow the last episode of Lucifer left me with disturbing feelings. I wonder why? (No, not really) Anyway. I simply had to write this little story here. And now that it's finally off my chest, I can concentrate back on the other story. I hope you like it.

It is **rated** **K+** so nothing really happens here.

This story is **beta-read** by Daemon. You rock! As always, but especially on this story :D All remaining mistakes are my own. :D

Enjoy!

* * *

Somehow, he knew it all the time.

He just wasn't ready to admit it yet.

He'd told himself that he was vulnerable around her because she was a miracle, sent by his father, for some mysterious plan He had for his once favourite son. But today, after he'd saved her life, he finally saw the truth. If the reason was just her being a miracle, then he would have been mortal around her right from the start. But that wasn't the case. No, it was only since that job in the players club, where they had to find that missing woman. Then she was able to hurt him physically; then he first got to know what pain truly felt like.

And today he learned why that had happened. He knew now that he could get hurt near her because _he_ gave her that power. Not on his free will, of course; if there was something like free will in this case, anyway. No, he was mortal around her since his feelings for her had changed. Because he, the devil himself, had been infected by that emotion called love. Something so minuscule, and yet so tremendous that it had changed everything inside him completely: How he'd seen the world, how he'd seen the people, how he'd seen her.

How was he supposed to know what was going on? He had never felt this feeling before. But today he finally figured it out when he saw her waking up in that bed, and how her first reaction when she'd seen him was a smile. It hadn't been the smile that made him realise what he felt for her, what he had felt all along ever since. It was his heart breaking when he'd looked in her eyes, knowing that he would never see her again.

He was running away now; running to the place he called home, not because of the people there, not because he'd fought for it to stay intact. But because _she'd_ made it to his home. He had to go. He couldn't allow his father to get into his ways just once more. He wanted to escape from all these manipulations. He wanted a free will. And he could only get it when he was as far away from this city as possible. As far away from his mother, from his brother, and from her. Chloe.

His beloved Chloe.

And his heart bled at the thought to never hold her anymore, never see her smile anymore. Still, he had to leave. Because he'd allowed himself to become infatuated with her. True, you can never choose who you fall in love with, but you can choose if you stay around that person. And he chose to go, to leave her because he also knew that she was just a pawn in this big game of his father's. Someone his father could choose to sacrifice one day, just to see him suffer some more. Just like what he'd allowed happening to Hiob. And he had to prevent that. He, Lucifer, just went back to hell to get that formula to save her life. And he would do it over and over again, willingly, in an instant, to keep her safe. And that's why he had to go now. She needed to be safe and secure, even from himself. She deserved to have the life that she always wanted, and he knew she wouldn't get it as long as he was standing in her way.

He had to leave!

But why was it so difficult? Why did he feel like someone was choking his lungs from the inside right now? Why did he feel like he was dying? Was this what people called ' _to be crossed in love_ '? He didn't know. But this feeling was one of those few he wished to never experience again.

Shaking his head out of his thoughts, Lucifer tossed the suitcase into his car, went behind the wheel, started the engine and took off, heading north-east. The sun had already begun to disappear behind the horizon when the pain inside his chest got so unbearable that he had to pull over. He clutched the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white when the waves of sorrow and loss erupted inside of him. They made his whole body tremble, finally setting free the little drops of water that had already welled up in his eyes half an hour ago.

His phone started to buzz again, and this time he took it out of his pocket and looked at it. The little device already displayed three voicemails from her, and it looked like she was just leaving the fourth one.

He swung his arm and tossed the phone away as far as he could manage before he started the engine again and drove away.

Just to hit the breaks hard after a couple of yards, set the car in reverse and go back. He sprang out of his seat and went to the area he'd tossed it in. He knew, getting the phone back was a bad idea. But he simply couldn't part with her completely. At least this way, when the pain got too much, he could listen to her voice and pretend he would see her the next day.

The search for his phone had lasted already ten minutes when he heard the soft sound of its vibration. Relieved, he headed in that direction and, spotting it, grabbed it and put it back into his pocket.

Yes, at least he could hear her voice from time to time. Even if it would be torture not to see her as well, not to hold her in his arms again. But this was a torture he was willing to endure. To remind himself, that he, Lucifer Morningstar, the devil, had once fallen in love.

* * *

 **A/N:** The end. I hope you liked it. Please leave a comment and let me know :D

Have a nice day!

:o)


	4. The Flu and Other Little Parasites

**A/N:** My dear readers. Here comes the fourth story of the one-shot-collection. This one is the **sequel to** my other story " **The sweetest taste of sin** " and follows up on the happy ending. For those of you who haven't read that. Feel free to do so. :D

If you prefer not to, here comes a little summary: **SPOILER ALERT**  
Lucifer and Chloe had to play a married couple to catch a serial killer. During their undercover time, they came closer to each other until they couldn't deny their feelings any longer. After several life-threatening events, Lucifer decided to make this fake marriage a real one and proposed to her. Of course, Chloe accepted and not long after they moved into a house together, preparing for their wedding.

 **The Flu and Other Little Parasites**

This story was **beta-read** by Daemon. All remaining mistakes are my own. But feel free to point them out :D

Enjoy!

* * *

Lucifer had no idea how he'd gotten himself into that! Life should have been so easy. He'd made sure that not only with the new Mexican nanny at hand, but also with a fine network consisting of Chloe, Maze, and even Dan, under no circumstances he would have been alone with the child. But right now, he was exactly that! And he could do nothing about it as he watched the little girl hunch over and throw up across the kitchen area, creating a pool of sick that was almost as big as herself.

"Sorry," Trixie cried out and looked up to him, big tears streaming down her face, her cheeks flushed with shame. She tightly clutched her arms around her stomach, trying to ease a bit of the pain that had spread out inside of her.

"Stop crying, child," he urged her and cautiously approached her. With one wary eye fixed on her face, he bent over and grabbed her by her arms, carefully lifting her up and putting her back down near the sink. Loud sobs resounded behind him while he turned to the sink, took the cloth that was hanging around the water tap, wetted it, and turned back to her. He was about to lean down to her and wipe her face clean, as she grimaced and heaved up another load of her breakfast. "No! Don't!" Lucifer shouted and sprang back, just in time to not get hit by her vomit. He stared at her in disgust and questioned appalled, his voice an octave higher in disbelief, "How can so much fit into your little body?"

Fresh tears welled into Trixie's eyes. Her jaw trembled and she sobbed loudly, "I'm sorry." Sniffing audibly, she tried to hold back further tears. She wrapped her arms tighter around herself, her teeth chattering as a shiver ran over her. She glanced at him, her features a picture of misery, and tried to find out how angry he was.

Lucifer let his shoulders drop. The way she looked was too adorable to be mad at her, even in her current state. "It's fine," he softly assured her and was about to step over to her when he abruptly held himself back. "Are you going to puke again?" he questioned warily. Seeing her shaking her head, he narrowed his eyes doubtfully and asked again, "Are you sure?" She gave him a firm nod, but still, this didn't cease his worries. "Everything is out of your system that had been in there?" he probed further and attentively looked at her. Trixie nodded again, certain of it, and Lucifer visibly relaxed, exhaling a relieved sigh. "Good!" With a huge step, he closed in on her, wiped her face clean, and moved around to toss the cloth back into the sink. Then he picked her up as gently as he could, carefully holding her to the side, in case she was wrong.

Trixie didn't take any precaution, though. She shifted against him, wrapped her arms around his neck, holding tight, and when he carried her over to the stairs, she lay her head in the crook of his neck, too exhausted to keep it up.

Lucifer stopped in mid-movement when he felt her hot forehead pressed against him. Grabbing her behind to steady her, he felt her temperature with the back of his free hand and frowned deeply. "You're as hot as hellfire," he mumbled, and deep worry lines appeared above his eyebrows. "Why did you have to wait to get sick until your nanny has her day off?" he rebuked her without meaning it at all and continued with carrying her up the stairs. Grabbing his phone, he pressed speed-dial and held the little device against his ear. After a couple of ringing sounds, the call went to voicemail. "Hey, Chloe, it's me. I'm taking your child to the doctor. She's sick," he stated and ended the call, putting the phone back in his pocket. They reached her room, and he placed Trixie down on her bed, calmly telling her, "Please get changed. I'll try to reach your mum again in the meantime." Sending her an affirming nod, he exited the room, stepped into the hallway and pulled out his phone again, pressing her number and holding it against his ear once more. Again, the only thing that resounded were a number of rings before it went to voicemail. He ended the call, and then pressed the caller button anew. Still, no change. "Come on!" he grumbled impatiently. After a third failed attempt he gave up and walked back into the child's room. Trixie was still lying on her bed in her pyjamas, and he questioned her, perplexed, "Why aren't you changed, yet?"

"It's too hard," the little girl replied, snuffled loudly, and rubbed her eyes. "I can't lift my arms," she whined and exhaled an exhausted sigh while she demonstratively let her arms drop down to her sides.

Lucifer rolled his eyes, suppressing a groan. He walked to the closet, taking out the very first jogging suit that was in there, and stepped back to her. Guiding her into an upright position, he grabbed her shirt and pulled it above her head. For a moment, he considered if he should remove her undershirt as well, but then dismissed the idea. That would be unnecessary work for him, and the doctor probably wouldn't mind, anyway. Plus, he'd read somewhere that sick children need to be kept warm. Therefore, he quickly put the sweatshirt over her head and helped her get into the sleeves before he pulled it down. Trixie let herself fall back onto her bed with a loud _phut_. She looked like a toddler, weakly lying there on the bed, and he sighed in mild vexation, not liking it at all that he had to play the dressing fairy.

He pushed the feeling down. The sooner they got to the doctor, the earlier he'd have gotten it over with, and he would know _what_ exactly she had, _when_ it would get away again, and, very importantly, _if_ this was in any kind infectious. Reaching for her pyjama bottoms, he pulled them off as well before he grabbed the trousers, making sure he had the correct side, and then helped her get into them. He was about to pick her up when Trixie objected.

"I need socks!" she reminded him and gestured towards the dresser.

"Right!" Lucifer mumbled, turned to the furniture, and opened the second upper drawer, grabbing a pair of what looked like warm socks. When he turned back to her, Trixie had already raised one foot, holding it towards him. He frowned in confusion, surprised that this illness had withdrawn all strength from her arms, but her legs still worked perfectly fine. With a quick shake of his head, he got rid of the thought. He had no time to ponder on that right now, he told himself and put the first sock over her foot. When he was done, Trixie held her other foot high and he repeated the process. Finally having her fully dressed, he nodded to himself, pleased with his work. He briefly considered to take out his phone and snap a photographic proof for Chloe that he was indeed capable of taking proper care of her offspring, just like he'd promised her this morning right before she had hastened out of the house, but dismissed this idea as well. ' _No time for that!_ ' he thought. It would be much more effective when Trixie told her about that herself, anyway, he concluded and grabbed around her, picking her up.

They were almost out of the room when Trixie's voice piped up next to his ear. "Shoes!" she demanded, one of her arms tightly wrapped around his neck while she pointed with her other hand towards them.

Lucifer rolled his eyes and groaned in frustration. Not caring to put her back down, he simply took the first pair he could reach and rushed out of the room, down the stairs, and straight out of the house. He walked up to his car that stood in front of the detached garage and placed her into the passenger seat, carelessly letting the shoes drop down on the floor mat. Her small figure looked even tinier in the big seat, and when she glanced up at him through tired eyes, he frowned again. The weather still was warm, but Trixie was ill and he couldn't risk her getting even worse through the airflow. After all, she needed to be fit for the wedding in three days, or else Chloe would postpone the whole thing a second time. That was the last thing he wanted! "Stay put!" he ordered her and quickly turned around, rushing back inside the house. A moment later, he reemerged, armed with a big, fluffy blanket that he instantly wrapped around Trixie, so that only her head looked out of it, as he fastened the seatbelt around her. "You feeling warm?" he questioned to reassure himself, and smiled delightedly when she gave him an affirming nod. Scurrying to the driver's seat, he got behind the wheel, started the engine, and drove off.

/-/

His worry for the small human increased when they stopped in front of the doctor's office and she was too weak to even unbuckle herself, let alone to get out of the car. _'She needs to see that doctor immediately,'_ Lucifer thought and decided to carry her. With the blanket tightly wrapped around her, he entered the building, hoping they could help her get better before Chloe would see her in this state and chop off his head.

After he'd signed her up at the enrolment, he walked into the waiting area, choosing a seat at the front, far away from the other little walking bacteria launchers that were playing in the back of the room. _'_ _Why were they even here?_ _'_ he asked himself and pursed his lips to thin lines. They obviously seemed alright if they had still enough energy to walk around, he thought and huffed lowly. The doctor definitely should treat the patients sorted by priority and not by arrival time, he silently concluded, and Trixie, she definitely had top priority.

One of those little parasites dared to walk up on them, and Lucifer demonstratively hugged Trixie closer to himself, narrowing his eyes at the little boy and making clear with a single stare that any physical contact was out of bounds. Luckily, the kid ran back to his mother without letting loose one of those piercing screams, and he relaxed again. Trixie was completely still in his arms. He glanced at her, seeing her eyes almost closed, and out of reflex, he started caressing her back and lightly swayed her back and forth. When he got aware of this highly unusual behaviour of his, he stopped abruptly and took a glance around the room to see if anyone had watched him. He gulped when he got aware that all of the other women's eyes were focused on him. But when he saw that they looked at him with rather longing and acknowledging expressions, he smiled smugly. If he'd known that having a child in his arms would impress the ladies in such a manner, he'd gotten himself one long since – a very silent and very immobile one, rented, of course.

As time passed, more and more of the other patients were called into the doctor's office, being replaced by new mums that had arrived with their sick children, and he bobbed his leg up and down, getting impatient. Suddenly, Trixie called him, her voice weak and barely above a whisper, "Lucifer?" He turned his head to her, getting sight of her pale face and this distinct expression that she also had had this morning, right before the first wave of her half-digested food went back up her throat. "Oh, no!" he cautioned her in panic and sprang up, hastily looking for something that could hold her fluids. Spotting a bin standing in the corner, he quickly grabbed for it and held it under Trixie's chin, just in time as she heaved and threw up another load, mostly bile, but also some remains of her cereals. He wrinkled his nose and stared into the opposite direction until she stopped making those noises. When she was done, he turned his sight back to her, holding the bin at an arm's length. "So much about your stomach is empty, huh?" he commented dryly, giving her a reproving look.

Trixie let her head drop back down on his shoulder in reply, and clasped her arm around his neck again before she mumbled ruefully, "It is now."

Feeling pity for her, Lucifer sent her an assuring smile and tightened his grip around her, leaning his cheek against her head in comfort. She still felt like a personalised heating pad, he noticed with concern. The bin he held outstretched got heavier, reminding him that he needed to get rid of it, and he looked around the room. Some of the mothers pointed towards the door to the restrooms, and he was about to head for it when a voice resounded behind him.

"Family Morningstar?" the doctor's assistant announced friendly.

He grinned from ear to ear and wheeled around. "That's us!" he stated with delight, flashed her a bright smile and thrust the bin into her hand as he rushed past her, disappearing inside the doctor's office.

/-/

With Trixie in his arms and a prescription in his hand, Lucifer stepped into the pharmacy. He walked up to the counter to get in line when suddenly his phone vibrated. He rolled his eyes, mildly annoyed at the interruption, and handed Trixie the prescription sheet so he could switch her into his other arm to grab for the device. The corners of his lips instantly lifted when he saw the caller ID. Pressing the answer button, he held the mobile to his ear. "Yes, darling?" he purred into the receiver. Chloe's frantic voice resounded and he immediately assured her, "Don't worry! Your child is fine." His bright smile didn't cease in the slightest as he listened to her words and then answered her question. "Some form of the flu. I didn't quite listen to him any longer after he said that the worst should be gone within three days. So, your offspring won't disrupt our day," he explained, his voice turned into a delighted tone at the end.

Apparently, she didn't take that last sentence very well, as she reprimanded him through the speaker that her sick daughter was not a disruption. Lucifer groaned, briefly getting distracted by the line that moved forward. He closed up while he countered, smirking, "Of course, she's not an inconvenience, Chloe. That's not what I've said... I just-" She interrupted him. He rolled his eyes, groaning once more, and waited for some time to talk again. "Listen, can we discuss this when you're back from your trip?" Hearing that she wanted to come back immediately, he objected calmly, "You don't need to get home, dear. Just take your time and get everything ready. We two are perfectly fine." He sighed audibly at her reply, and then assured her, not without teasing, "Don't worry, darling. I won't set her on fire... I'll wait until you're back." He hastily pulled the phone away to not go deaf by her shouting. When she'd calmed down that much that he couldn't hear her through the speaker any longer, he addressed Trixie, ordering her in a friendly manner, "Please tell your mother, that you're not in any danger." He held the device against her, so she could talk.

"Hey, Mummy," Trixie spoke into the receiver, her exhaustion sounding through. "No. Lucifer is doing good," she answered her mother's question and let her head drop down onto his shoulder. Lucifer readjusted the position of the phone, so the little one could listen further to what Chloe had to say. Trixie nodded and confirmed straight-away, "I want _him_ to take care of me." Waiting until her mum had digested that statement, she went on, "You don't need to come, now. I'm good!" Trixie wanted to say something else, but Lucifer placed the phone back against his own ear.

"See! She's perfectly fine, except for the flu," he reassured her once again, grinning smugly in victory. Chloe gave in, and his grin stretched even further. "I've got to hang up now, dear. We're next." Not waiting for her reply, he stated, "Bye, Chloe" into the speaker and put the phone to sleep. Stowing it away again, he looked up at the pharmacist, flashing him a polite smile, and grabbed the prescription out of Trixie's hand to give it to the middle-aged man.

"Thank you, Sir," the pharmacist replied politely when he took the little piece of paper and looked at it. "A moment, please," he announced and turned around, heading to the back of the store. Not two minutes later, he came back out with a bunch of medication in his hands, placing them on the counter. "Your doctor had prescribed quite a lot," he commented as he sorted the drugs so he could start explaining them to his customer.

"Indeed," Lucifer confirmed with a cheeky smile. "I didn't know what we had at home, and I need this little peach here to be fresh and juicy in a couple of days," he commented, pointing at the child in his arms.

The man nodded attentively. Then he grabbed the first item and explained, "This here is the ointment for her chest and back. This will help dissolve any mucus from her lungs."

As if on cue, Trixie started coughing. Lucifer grimaced, anything but delighted at getting a direct load of her bacteria. "At least cover your mouth, child," he demanded sternly and grabbed her hand, moving it in front of her face so she could cough into her palm instead of against his neck. Turning to the pharmacist in slight disgust, he questioned, "Do you have some sort of disinfectant at hand?" Reaching below the counter, the pharmacist retrieved a hand sanitiser and applied two loads onto Lucifer's offered hand. "Thanks," Lucifer replied and then took Trixie's hand between his both to clean it.

After the pharmacist had put the sanitiser back in its place and had his customer's attention again, he went on, holding a little package high, "This one is an oral solution that your daughter can take to ease off the feeling of sickness. Please apply this about ten to 20 minutes before every meal or, in an acute phase, you can also give it immediately to her."

Lucifer nodded, grinning a little awkwardly at the daughter-reference, but decided not to correct the man. After all, he soon would become some kind of dad for her; the cooler type at least. "Do you also have something to boost her energy? She hasn't eaten anything yet and she's very weak," he mentioned and stared at him in expectation.

The man nodded and placed some sugar drops onto the counter. "They should do the trick for now," he explained and offered one to Trixie. "But when you get home, I would recommend you to put her to bed so she can rest. Give her lots of fluids, preferably tea, and maybe some crackers for a start when she feels better with her stomach," he advised in a friendly manner.

Nodding his understanding once again, Lucifer turned his attention to Trixie, seeing her still holding the drop in her hand. "Do you want me to help you with that?" he questioned and the little girl shifted her head on his shoulder to look up at him. With a faint nod, she gestured her 'yes'. Lucifer took the drop out of her hand and unwrapped the foil. Then he placed the lump of sugar at her lips and waited until she'd opened them wide enough so he could push it inside. Soft sounds escaped from her mouth as she munched the little drop, and Lucifer sent her a pleased smile. "You're gonna feel better soon," he assured her and turned his attention back to the pharmacist. Glancing at the last type of medication on the counter, he pointed to them and asked curiously, "What are those for?"

"These are suppositories," the man informed him. "They are used to reduce the fever. Please give her one right after you've come home. Then one again tonight, and one more tomorrow morning. The fever should be gone by then, but if this isn't the case by tomorrow evening, then I'd recommend you to visit your doctor again."

Lucifer frowned at the huge shaped cones. "How is she supposed to take them?" he questioned and stared at the man, not missing a beat as he went on, "I mean, you've just seen she can barely eat such a tiny sugar drop. I highly doubt that she can swallow those?"

The pharmacist's both eyebrows disappeared in his hairline. He was surprised that Lucifer had no idea what suppositories were. Holding them high, he explained calmly, "Well, these are meant to be put into your behind." He saw Lucifer staring at him bewilderedly, and elucidated in more detail. "They need to be inserted in the rectum, so they can dissolve and exert their fever-reducing effects."

"What?" Lucifer cried out, appalled, and grimaced in horror. "What kind of torture technique is this to treat an already ill child?" he questioned and stared at the man in disbelief.

"I can assure you, Sir, this is not a torture technique," the man calmly replied and gave him an assuring nod. He put all the items into a little paper bag, added some more of the sugar drops, and then placed the bag in front of Lucifer. "That makes $35,69, Sir," he declared and smiled at him friendly.

"Very well," Lucifer grumbled and reached for his banknotes, taking two twenty dollar bills and handing them over. "Keep the change," he announced, grabbed the bag, and with a polite "goodbye" he left the shop.

/-/

Trixie's little bedside table was piled with a huge pot of tea, a cup, already filled, and a plate with some crackers right next to the pharmaceutics. So far, everything went smooth. He'd already rubbed the ointment onto her back and chest to help her lungs. He'd fluffed up her pillows so she laid a bit more in an upright position and it was easier for her to drink. She'd taken a spoonful of that anti-sickness solution, and had a cool cloth on her forehead to lower her temperature. Why did people say that having a sick child was hard? Lucifer wondered. True, he couldn't do anything else except for sitting here and taking care of her, he admitted and tucked the blanket a little tighter around her. But she was silent, immobile, and besides the occasional coughing didn't really do much trouble.

"Hey, baby!" Chloe's soft voice suddenly resounded behind Lucifer and he wheeled his head around, raising his finger in caution to stop her from entering the room. "No! Don't!" he warned her and stood up to block her way. "Hey, baby to you, too," he purred, flashing her a smile, and leant into her, ready to kiss.

Chloe moved her head backwards, stared at him with narrowed eyes and put her fingers on his lips, gently but resolutely pushing him back. "I meant my daughter," she flatly pointed out and rolled her eyes in annoyance at his pleading look. "Fine!" she gave in, quickly pecked his lips, and added as she tried to get past him, "Now move, let me get to my child."

Lucifer blocked her way once again, determined to not let her through. "I'm sorry, Chloe, but the doctor has said that she's still infectious for the next three days, and I won't risk anything," he declared matter-of-factly and gave her a stern look.

"Lucifer, you can't keep me away from my child!" Chloe countered, sending him an equally serious glare.

"I can! And I will! I won't let our wedding get shifted a second time," he made clear and folded his arms in front of his chest, huffing to underline that he wasn't backing down.

Chloe took a deep breath, silently calming herself down to not explode in front of him. The day had been stressful enough already. Exhaling the air from her lungs, she tilted her head, pursed her lips, folded her arms as well, and gave him her non-verbal 'really?'

"Besides," Lucifer continued, slightly intimidated by her look and trying to get the discussion shifted towards a not so sore subject. "Shouldn't you still be at the fitting for your wedding dress?"

Shaking her head, she took another deep breath and let out a sigh, instantly feeling the exhaustion again at the reminder. "This was pure frustration!" she answered. "The dress didn't fit at all. Everything was too tight. They tried to fix the measures per hand for an hour, but after I got your calls, I didn't want to wait any longer. So, they took new measures from my body, and surprise, surprise, none of them matched to the previously taken ones. Don't know what they did wrong the first time, but now they finally have the correct numbers."

"I hope they don't charge their sloppy job!" Lucifer tossed in and grumbled lowly, "Should have demanded you to go to that tailor I've wanted. I bet, they wouldn't have gotten anything wrong."

Chloe groaned and leant against the door frame. Did he really need to start with that topic again? she asked herself and narrowed her eyes, simply out of annoyance. "Lucifer, I'm not wearing a 10,000 dollar dress just for two hours at one single day," she repeated the words she'd already spoken three months ago when they'd started to prepare for the wedding. Getting back to her current problem, she informed him calmly, "They promised me to have my dress ready by tomorrow. Therefore, I'll have to go back again, but my mum should arrive this evening, so she could take care of Trixie tomorrow." Sighing again, she relaxed her shoulders and smiled lightly as Lucifer gently caressed her arm in encouragement.

"Thirsty," Trixie's voice piped up from behind them and Lucifer quickly turned around, walked back to her, taking a seat on the edge of her bed, and grabbed the cup with cold tea from the bedside table, bringing it to her mouth while his other hand went to the back of her neck, lightly lifting her up to support her as she took a sip.

"Don't worry, Chloe," Lucifer assured her, waiting until Trixie had enough tea before he placed the cup aside again. He turned his attention back to his soon-to-be wife and went on, "All I need to do is get that fever down. She already managed to keep some crackers down and I'm sure, by tomorrow, she will run around again, chasing Marshal through the house." ' _The only exercise this idle dog could do anyway_ ,' he silently added, vexed. He'd paid a lot of money to get this so-called guard dog for their safety, but not even one month later, and Trixie had turned him into a cuddle toy.

"Didn't the doctor prescribe her something for the fever?" Chloe questioned concerned, bringing him out of his thoughts. She wanted to take a step into the room to have a better look at the medication that stood on the little night table, but at the tiniest movement of her foot, Lucifer sent her a sharp glare again. "Fine!" she gave in, huffing once. "I'll go and get something for her, then."

"There's no need to," Lucifer objected before she could turn around. He grabbed the medic's bag, retrieving the suppositories, and held them high. "The doctor prescribed her these monsters here. But under no circumstances will I put them into her!" he made clear and firmly shook his head.

Chloe suppressed the grin that wanted to settle down on her face. She leant back against the door frame, completely relaxed now. "Well, either you do it or I do it, but those will get into my daughter!" she challenged him and clarified, "I won't risk her health just because you're making a fuss about it!" Watching him attentively, she could almost literally see how the wheels in his head turned into an idea, and she quickly added before he could voice what was on his mind, "And I won't call Dan to do this, either!"

"Chloe!" Lucifer whined and hunched his shoulders.

All she did was staring at him mercilessly, shaking her head. "You want to play her nurse and don't want me to get near her! Now stop doing things by half," she ordered sternly.

"Chloe, this is for your own good!" he cried, feeling hard done by. "What if you pick up her flu and then get sick on Saturday? Do you really want to postpone this whole thing again? Don't you remember how stressed you were after your mother told you she couldn't make it in time and we had to cancel everything last minute? Do you really want that?" he ranted frustratedly.

"Alright, alright! You win!" she admitted defeat and sighed. "It's better I don't catch her flu, I know." When her thoughts spun further, her lips stretched into a smirk and she went on, "I mean, you can barely take care of my daughter, I highly doubt that you could survive when I am sick as well. Just think about it: You would have to carry me around and bring me tea. You would have to rub the ointment all over my body. And heaven forbids, I get a fever as well, you would have to insert those suppositories into me." She feigned agitation and vigorously shook her head. "No, no! You would completely freak out," she teased, turned around, and started to walk away.

The further she'd talked, the higher went his eyebrows, and when she was done, he jumped up from the bed, rushing after her with a wide, cheeky grin. Maybe it wasn't that bad if she caught the flu as well, it rushed through his head and his grin turned into a mischievous smile. Then he would be able to pamper her and touch her where and whenever he wanted... And he could let her do the nasty job now! Quickly grabbing her arm, he turned her back to him and started, "On a second thought, I've once read that the mother is the best medicine for her sick child, and I really don't want to keep you away from her." With that, he thrust the suppositories into her hand.

Chloe smiled at him, innerly doing a victory dance. "Thank you, honey," she replied, and pecked his lips, walking past him into her daughter's room. Placing the suppositories back on the bedside table, she gave Trixie a big kiss on her cheek and gently caressed her arm.

"Do you need me for anything?" Lucifer questioned, standing in the door frame and awaiting an answer, eager to go.

"No," Chloe replied casually, shaking her head as she looked at him. He quickly left and she turned her attention back to her child. "How are you feeling, monkey?" she questioned softly.

Trixie only shrugged her shoulders, glancing at her mother with tired eyes. "I'm hungry."

Chloe smiled, relieved, hunger always was a good sign. She grabbed a cracker from the plate and held it towards her. When her child opened her mouth, expecting to get fed, she chuckled with delight and tilted her head to the side, countering, "I'm pretty sure, you can eat on your own."

Trixie huffed at her mother, grumbling something inaudible, and pushed herself into a more sitting position, grabbing for the cracker. "Lucifer is a much better nurse than you are," she complained and bit into it.

Chloe tilted her head to the other side, removed the cloth from her forehead, and gently placed her hand against it, feeling her temperature. "That's only because he doesn't know all your tricks yet," she replied caringly and ran her fingers through her child's hair. Watching her until she'd finished her cracker, Chloe questioned curiously, "Did you make him carry you around?"

"All the time," Trixie confirmed and flashed her mother a sneaky smile. "I also made him dress me, and sent him to get me a cold cloth, and then for tea, and then for the crackers," she listed and leant over to grab the second one. "I'm pretty sure I could've made him get me a TV in here, but then you had to show up," she ended, not without sending her mother a reproachful stare.

"Could you at least wait until after the wedding before you make him your personal concierge?" Chloe asked her pleadingly.

Trixie looked at her, sceptically, and countered, "What's in there for me?"

Chloe shook her head at her daughter. "Lucifer already had too much influence on you, young lady," she commented, half in worry and half with pride.

/-/

The sun had barely risen above the horizon when Chloe was hunching over the toilet, throwing up the content of her stomach. Lucifer soothingly ran his hand across her back, holding her hair with his other, so they wouldn't fall in her way. "See! I told you, you'll catch that flu!" he reprimanded her, completely worried. As she heaved up another load, he sighed, feeling sympathy for her. "Now we have to shift the wedding again," he grumbled and took a deep breath.

"I don't think so," Chloe countered before another load from her stomach forced itself into the toilet. "I don't feel any other symptoms."

"Just wait. Your child also started with vomiting before the coughing began," he told her and grabbed for the wet washing cloth, wiping her face clean as she leant back against him.

Chloe shook her head, completely exhausted from the ordeal. "That's not what I meant, Lucifer," she contradicted. Letting him help her get up, she took a seat on the chair while he reached for a glass from the washbasin, filled it halfway with water, and handed it over to her. Thanking him, she took a large sip to rinse her mouth. "Normally I don't throw up when I get the flu," she informed him. "Actually, I've never thrown up before... Not since-" she stopped abruptly, her eyes getting wide as she made the mental conclusion. "Oh, no!" she suddenly groaned and buried her face in her free hand.

"What is it?" Lucifer questioned, perplexed, and quickly took the glass from her, fearing she would let it drop otherwise.

"Get me a pregnancy test," Chloe answered straightforwardly.

"What?" He stared at her, flabbergasted. "Chloe, don't be silly. You can't be pregnant!" he contradicted decidedly.

Chloe glared at him reproachfully as his words from back then went right back into her head, how insistently he had told her that this could never happen. "We never used any protection!" she replied and narrowed her eyes in frustration.

"No, Chloe! This is literally impossible!" he countered, vigorously shaking his head. "I can't impregnate you. I'm the devil! And you're human."

"Yeah?" she retorted sardonically, "the same way you can't bleed and the same way you don't get drugged by my fluids?"

"That's something completely different!" he objected, but slowly doubt spread out inside of him. After all, this with her was nothing he'd ever experienced before. Maybe... he hastily shook his head to get rid of that absurd thought.

"No, Lucifer," Chloe objected sternly and sighed, angry with herself that she hadn't spent one single thought on that possibility before. "What if the same power that makes you vulnerable in my presence and lets you get so affected by me, can also make that you..." she trailed off, letting him fill in the rest for himself.

Again, Lucifer shook his head, but slowly his certainty got replaced by fear.

"Go and get me a pregnancy test," Chloe repeated and stared at him with determination.

Lucifer sighed, admitting defeat, and turned around, leaving the room.

/-/

Lucifer stood on the large balcony, nervously pacing back and forth while he waited for the test results. As soon as he'd come back, loaded with several different pregnancy tests, and had handed them over to her, Chloe had shoved him out of the bathroom. Now, he had nothing else to do than to wait for her sign, being completely left alone with his haunting thoughts. She couldn't be pregnant! This couldn't be! This was impossible!

With dark, glaring eyes, he stared straight towards heaven, growling in anger, hiding his worry. "I swear, Dad, if you had a hand in this, I will..." he trailed off and lowered his head again. The panic, once again, gripped his body, making his fingers tremble.

He glanced over to the bathroom window to take a look at her. She stood in front of the washbasin from what he could make out, looking down at something with full concentration. There had already been enough time for her to take one test, he was sure. Maybe the test didn't work? Maybe she took another one... or two, just to be sure. Maybe even all of them. Feeling the nervousness spreading out inside of him, he turned his head back to the railing, gazing at the sight of their neighbourhood and the skyscrapers of Downtown L.A. in the background. This couldn't be! he told himself once more. She couldn't be pregnant! She couldn't carry a baby inside of her. His baby. He wasn't prepared for this. He wasn't prepared for anything like this.

"LUCIFER!"

Her blaring voice suddenly resounded from behind, and he jumped in fright, hunching his shoulders in reflex. Then he stared skywards with wide open eyes, shaking his head, as he cried in panic, "Dad! Please, don't!"

* * *

 **A/N:** This is the end of the sequel. No, there won't be another one, sorry for that. I hope you enjoyed this little story. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Have a nice day!

:o)


	5. A Devil's talk

**A/N:** My dear readers. Here comes the fifth story of the one-shot-collection

 **A devil's talk**

Hello my dears, this is a little one-shot I wrote during the weekend. I dreamed about the first part and the rest just went with the flow. It's **rated T** , just to be on the safe side but there should be nothing serious in it.

This story isn't proof read, since my beta is busy going through the next chapter of my other story, and this will take a while. I'm pretty sure there are errors in it so please feel free to point them out. Really, it would be a great help for me to avoid them next time.

The story follows after where we've been left hanging at season 2.24, so after Chloe had seen his face.

When my beta has time to have a look at this little cutie, I might change some little bits here and there, but so far I'm pleased with it and hope you like it as well.

Enjoy!

* * *

"So, Mr. Rodrigues," Chloe began and sat down on the chair in the interrogation room, dropping the file in front of her. She was about to open it when a twitch went through her lower abdomen. Her grip on the file tightened and she used all her strength to stifle the groan that had rolled up her throat. She just came back from chasing after the suspect for almost two miles before they were able to catch him. It surely was just a stitch, she assured herself and swallowed the pain. She cleared her throat, bringing her mind and focus back to the man in front of her who was sitting across the table, handcuffed to it, and rather looked like a picture of misery than a cold-blooded killer. "Do you deny that you were with the victim?" she questioned and took several photos from the folder, leaned forward and placed them in front of him. They all showed a dead body lying in the living room in his own blood, which came out of numerous stab wounds.

"No! I was there," he confessed meekly and shoved the pictures away in disgust so as not to have to see them any further, but then his head shot up and he quickly added, "But I didn't kill him!"

"Neighbours said that you left the crime scene around the time the victim was murdered," she flatly pointed out, leaving out for the moment that they had also told her that he had fled the house as if set on fire, and that his hands had been covered in blood.

"I found him like this! I swear! I had nothing to do with it! He was my cousin."

' _Right! As if th_ _at_ _would rule him out as a suspect,_ ' Chloe thought. She felt another twitch, stinging as if someone was stabbing her from the inside with a long, sharp knife, and she had to lean forward a little to ease her muscles and breathe the pain away. Quickly straightening up again, she objectively stated, "The neighbours had heard you fighting about half an hour before his death."

"Yes," he confirmed, then shook his head hastily. "But that was all we did. We had a loud argument and I left to cool my head. Then when I came back, I found him like that. I checked his pulse, but there was none." He took a deep breath, remembering his cousin lying there lifeless. "I panicked and ran!"

She raised one of her eyebrows doubtfully. "You really want me to believe that someone entered the victim's house, and by that I mean that your cousin let that person in because there were no signs of violent entry, after you left. That this person then killed your cousin and then left again before you returned?" Her voice made it clear that she wasn't at all convinced of his story. It sounded too absurd.

Mr. Rodrigues, however, nodded firmly and looked her in the eyes with an expression that showed nothing but honesty when he replied, "That's right!"

Another sting went through her body. This time it was so intense that also her lower belly cramped. A soft groan escaped her and she visibly leaned forward. Quiet panting left her mouth as she concentrated on getting a grip on herself. _Never show weakness in front of a_ _suspect_ _!_ She told herself. Squinting her eyes shut, she took another deep breath, then sat upright again and asked as if nothing had just happened, "What was the fight about?"

"Nothing serious." The man shrugged. "Only about money he owed me, and he promised-" He stopped and gave her a concerned look. "Ma'am, are you all right?"

"Yeah!" Chloe pressed through gritted teeth, the pain suddenly rolled over her like a train at full speed. A soft cry of pain filled the room. She could barely breathe and squinted her eyes tightly as she concentrated on pulling herself together. This time it didn't work. She bent forward, almost closing the gap between her chest and her thighs, to ease the muscles in the tummy area where the pain increased. Then it suddenly vanished. With a relieved sigh she sat up again. "Sorry," she apologised quickly and cleared her throat again. With another exhale, her police mask was back on and she was ready to go on. "So the money, you said, he owed you-" She couldn't even finish the sentence when another wave of pain hit her. All her inner muscles cramped at once, leaving her no room to breathe, and then suddenly it all went black around her.

/-/

"So, Daniel," Lucifer pronounced his name with anger and impatience, the only emotions that currently accompanied each of his actions. "Did you two have time to talk, yesterday?"

Dan shrugged his shoulders. He felt irritated and intimidated by the two eyes that stared fiercely at him from the otherwise relaxed seeming expression on his face. "Actually, she didn't talk much," he confessed quietly.

"What?" Lucifer shouted and gave way to his anger and growing distress. "I booked half the restaurant to give you privacy for your little chat. I even watched that little spawn of yours and you couldn't get her to talk? Not even for five minutes?"

"Man, it hasn't been that easy with her lately. Just..." He shrugged his shoulders again. "Give her time, man! The whole thing with Charlotte and Pierce-" He broke off, shrugging his shoulders once more. Nothing had been easy since then. For no one. And yes, he wanted to help Lucifer, but he didn't know what to do either. "Just give her time," he repeated.

"It's been three weeks, Daniel!" Lucifer countered, and this time despair was gradually spreading within him. Even Linda hadn't taken that long to… recover from the sight of him. And he'd really done everything to not stand in the Detective's way; had fully focused on her needs and had put his own last. What else was he supposed to do? How long would it take before she would finally talk? He was at a loss. No! He was at his wits' end! And slowly he saw the little light of hope fade in him. If not even Dan could get through to her... After he had spent two hours alone with her… Suddenly a completely different idea crossed his mind, one that re-ignited the anger in him. "Or didn't you want her to talk about me?" he asked and gritted his teeth to keep his emotions from breaking through. "I mean, it was all prepared, perfect even, just the two of you, all alone," he said, as if suggesting adultery.

"No!" Dan denied vehemently, his voice an octave higher. "Nothing is going on between Chloe and me!" he declared to defend himself and felt some of his own anger rise at the accusation. But he could also understand him. Having to be around someone who was emotionally ghosting him… it was so unlike Chloe and he couldn't wrap his own head around her any more. "Just, I mean," he shrugged his shoulders once again, feeling sympathy for Lucifer, and he elucidated, "She really made it clear that she didn't want to talk to me about you. Yeah, we did talk a little about weather and work, and when we talked about Trixie we had the conversation for more than a few minutes, but all the time she seemed absorbed in her own thoughts, she got tense as soon as I mentioned you. And, I don't know, man, but why don't _you_ just talk to her?"

"I've already tried!" he growled and balled his fists to prevent himself from releasing his anger with a well-adjusted punch. "She made it pretty clear-" He was interrupted by a soft bang and he groaned in frustration and raised his voice to continue, "-pretty clear that she didn't want to talk to me. Not unless it's about a case." He wanted to say something more but another bang brought him out of his thoughts. He groaned again. And another bang followed. "Bloody hell, what is that noise?!" he barked and looked up. Only now did he see the man behind Dan, who stretched his head as far as he could in his half-squat position and even lifted his foot to kick against the window of the observation room again.

Dan turned around with a muttered "What the heck" and stepped forward. That's when he saw her, or rather, some bits of her. "Chloe!" he screamed and rushed out of the room and over into the interrogation room.

Lucifer was startled as well and quickly hurried after him, sparing a look at the window first. He darted into the room and saw Daniel already crouching over the unconscious body of the Detective, lying there on the cold floor, and trying to wake her up. When Lucifer spotted the huge dark-red area between her legs, clearly blood, his mind stopped working. "You hurt her!" He stormed to the suspect, grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up.

"No! She collapsed! I swear!" cried the man in defence, already scared to death by the strength of Lucifer. He'd lifted him up by his neck as if he weighed nothing. "I tried to attract attention. Anyone's!" he quickly added as he felt the fingers closing around his throat.

He wanted to squeeze the life out of this human, but some of his reason held him back. The man was still cuffed to the table. From his position he could never have reached over the table and touch the Detective, let alone hurt her… He turned his head around and saw that more people had rushed in to help her while Dan pressed the phone against his ear, probably to call an ambulance. He let go of the man who fell to the ground and huddled trembling under the table, but he didn't care. He stepped forward, pushing a policeman out of the way, knelt down to Chloe, put his arms around her and lifted her up.

He felt her limp body in his arms. She wasn't responding to anything and he feared she would drift away completely. He didn't care that the others yelled at him, he didn't even register what they said. He only new that she needed help. And at this time of the day, at rush hour, he knew that an ambulance wouldn't make it in time. He wasn't ready to lose her. Not again! And so he held her safely in his arms as he rushed out of the precinct, and then, with his recently healed wings, he flew her straight to the ER.

/-/

It was a sight he'd sworn himself to never see again after Jimmy Barns shot her. It was just like then. She lay unconscious on a stretcher while several doctors and nurses were scurrying around her, attaching wires and needles to her body whilst at the same time stripping her naked. And he could do nothing but stand in the back and watch everything. He felt weak, helpless and more forlorn right now than he'd ever felt before. He couldn't lose her, it once again went through his head. Not when he didn't even have the chance to get everything back in order with her.

He sighed when they moved the stretcher and rolled her through two large double doors with signs showing the words "surgery" and "no entry beyond this point" on them. He remained there at the doors, looking through the glazed windows, from time to time catching a glimpse of nurses while the doors were still swinging, and then, when they had stopped and denied him any further look, he sighed again and turned, heading for the waiting area. There were still some papers waiting for him anyway... Humans and their bureaucracy...

Surprisingly, they didn't take long. About half an hour and then a young doctor approached him.

"Are you a relative of Miss Decker?" she asked in a comforting voice.

He nodded slightly and then clarified, "I'm her partner." It surprised him that his voice had remained calm. Maybe it was because of the look on her face that assured him Chloe was still alive. He stood up and braced himself innerly for what was to come.

"I'm sorry to inform you that she had a spontaneous abortion, a miscarriage," she quickly added, as if he didn't know what the medical term meant.

For a moment, his head was empty. "She was pregnant?" he heard himself asking. He didn't even know why he wanted to make sure on that.

She nodded warmly. "Some of her blood vessels were torn when the placenta came off. Hence the huge blood loss. We removed all the remaining tissue. She's stable and responsive, but we have to keep her here for a couple of days just to be on the safe side. It was good you brought her so quickly."

All he did was nod. His mind didn't even seem to fully register what the woman was further saying to him. ' _So she was pregnant… there had been a little baby growing inside of her'_ , it went through his head. He didn't know what to do with this information. Once again, he felt at a loss. "May I see her?" he suddenly blurted out, interrupting the doctor from whatever she was just telling him.

She nodded with another one of her warm smiles. "Of course. I'll call someone to take you to her. Is there anything else you want to know?"

He shook his head, making clear that he didn't want any further conversation.

He watched the doctor leaving him for a moment to go to the reception, where she spoke to a nurse and said something inaudible to him near the other woman's face. The nurse nodded and then walked over to him.

"This way, sir." He heard her say and without a word, he followed her into the patient room area.

When they reached the room, she stopped, turned to him and, pointing her finger at the door, she informed him, "You can go in."

He nodded swiftly and gave the woman a strained smile before turning his attention to the glass window next to the door, that was half covered by curtains. Chloe lay in there on a bed facing the wall. From where he stood, he couldn't tell whether she was asleep or not, and he hesitated for a moment to go in. Did she want him in there? In a place where she couldn't fob him off with a ' _see you tomorrow_ ' to nicely make clear that she needed her space. But he couldn't just not go in either. He wanted to know how she was doing. He _needed_ to know.

And so his feet brought him forward to the door, and with a gentle knock against the fake wood he opened it and stepped inside. He tilted his head to the side to make sure she was awake and that he wouldn't disturb her resting, and when he saw her move her head dizzily, he whispered a soft "Hey."

"Hi," she replied, her head was still a little foggy from all the meds. They had given her something to sleep during the procedure and then something to wake her up again, mixed with a dose of several painkillers. She felt numb and sleepy, and most of all not really herself.

Lucifer took the chair from the side on the wall and sat down in front of her. "You scared me," he revealed to her with a quiet voice.

"Sorry," she replied.

But there was no emotion behind it. Nothing. He couldn't see in her eyes if she was glad he was here or if she wanted him to leave. And he himself didn't want to decide. For far too long the fight had been going on inside of him between his longing to be close to her and his feeling of guilt dictating him to stay away. Most of the time his longing won. And just now, this feeling was reinforced by his concern for her.

"Thanks for saving my life," she whispered, bringing him out of his thoughts, and added a weak, "again."

A pain-filled smile stretched his lips. "You're welcome," he replied. He watched her eyes close and then open again and he knew she was exhausted. He felt selfish, because he wanted her to stay awake and talk to him. Not for her sake, but for his. Unfortunately he didn't know what to say. He didn't want to ask how she was. How should she feel after what she had just been through? There were souls in Hell who were tortured with this! But he had to say something if he didn't want her eyelids to close again and she could give herself to sleep. "So," he began and saw her eyes open and focus on him. "Was it… Pierce's?" He didn't know why he'd chosen that as the topic of conversation. He wasn't even sure if he really wanted to know or if it was important to him.

Chloe nodded slowly. "I didn't even know I was pregnant," she disclosed.

The sadness that resonated in her tone was almost graspable. There were no words in this language that could make her loss any less painful. But he wanted to say something. He wanted to support and comfort her. He just didn't know how. It was all so new to him, so complicated and overwhelming. His first instinct was to thank her for not bothering the world with little mini versions of Pierce, but he would rather bite his tongue off than say that out loud, knowing full well that she wouldn't take it as a joke, but that this would tear the delicate bond between them and there would be nothing in the world to ever be able to fix it again.

"It's better this way, anyway," Chloe suddenly stated, breaking the silence that had wrapped itself so softly around them like a velvet scarf, bringing him once again out of his thoughts. "Considering that he was, well," she paused and made a swirling motion with her finger while she searched for the right words.

"Cain. The world's first murderer," Lucifer completed with a smile.

"I actually wanted to say: the head of a large crime cartel, but yeah." Her shoulder shrugged slightly.

He compressed his lips, stretching the strained smile over his cheeks when he agreed, "Right."

Then the silence came back and covered them under its veil.

"Lucifer?" she called his name after another moment went by, and he looked straight at her, hoping that she would finally open up to him, but she just muttered, "I'm really tired. See you tomorrow?"

There they were again. These little words that kept him in the loop with everything and nothing at the same time. Once again he sent her a smile, this time visibly sad, but then nodded and got up. "Till tomorrow, Detective."

When he reached the door, he turned to her and sent her one last warm look, and then he stepped out and closed the door.

"Lucifer!" he heard Dan call his name and looked up. He saw him at the back of the corridor approaching him at a fast pace. "Is she in there?" he asked when he was at his side, but then didn't wait for an answer, but went further past him and rushed into the room.

Lucifer stared after him and then took a quick glance at his watch. It took Dan almost three-quarters of an hour to get here, and since he was a cop, he knew it had taken him so long through the city despite using the sirens. She would have been dead by now if they had waited for an ambulance, and he didn't know if he should be angry with him or glad, that he could at least spend some time alone with her. Actually, he had wanted to tell him that she was tired and didn't want to be disturbed, but then as he watched them through the window… Dan only approached her and took a seat in the chair while his hand was already lying on her arm, gently stroking up and down. And then he saw her convulse, releasing the tears and emotions she had held back for so long; she had held back while he was in there with her.

Anger build up in him, but it was quickly replaced by sorrow. It wasn't him she confided in how she really felt; she'd kept her mask on. She chose Dan to comfort her. To be there for her. Not him! And it tore his heart apart. He couldn't bear to see her so close, couldn't stand to see Dan doing what he wanted to do so badly himself. But he also couldn't get his head to turn away, couldn't even make his eyes blink. It felt like torture. Torture he chose for himself and the loneliness continued to spread within him.

Then, finally, his heart became so heavy that his feet began to turn, and he walked away from her room and left the building.

/-/

He remembered that he had also come straight here back then, standing on his balcony with a glass of his best beverage in hand, and as he'd looked out over the city his thoughts had circled around what had happened, up there in the Loft...

When he'd just killed Pierce, the sound of his laughter still ringing in his ears, and suddenly he heard another sound, footsteps. And he had turned around and seen Chloe standing there with her eyes wide open, staring at him. He had seen the terror in them. And he sighed heavily, for only now did he realise that his devil's mask was back on his face. He wanted to go to her, but when he saw her take a step back, he froze. And she froze as well. And it felt like eternity when they stood there staring at each other.

He'd quickly changed back, but the damage had already been done. She finally knew the truth. She saw _him_. And he was relieved and scared to the bones at the same time. Then a SWAT team had entered the loft, spreading hastily and looking for a threat that was no longer there, quickly followed by the police. And they had both been pulled out of their trance. He had watched her being approached by a policeman who started asking her questions, and he didn't want to let her out of his sight, but then when another policeman demanded his attention and he turned around for a moment before looking back at her, she was suddenly gone. He had searched the whole room, but he couldn't find her. He wanted to run down, but also wanted to give her some time. Time she definitely needed after what she had seen. Him.

The next day he came to the precinct, her well-being the only thought on his mind. And he was amazed when he found her in the substitute lieutenant's office and shouted in a loud voice because they wanted him to go down for Pierce's death. She had defended him; made clear to them that it was self-defence, that he had protected her, that he had saved her life. And it was only thanks to her that they finally agreed to let him off the hook. But then, when she had left this room, she couldn't even look at him. She went in the opposite direction the moment he wanted to get close to her and brought people between him and herself like a shield behind which she could hide. He hung his head and left that day. But he had visited the next day, unwilling to give up on her. No, he would fight! This time she didn't actually flee from him when he approached her, but she didn't talk to him either, didn't even look him in the eyes. He couldn't take it and left again, only to come back the next day and endure the same. He couldn't stand it any longer and went to her home that night, knocked on her door until his knuckles hurt, and finally, after an eternity, she opened the door and stood there, already in her nightgown, her eyes drugged with sleep.

Actually, he had prepared a speech about what he wanted to tell her during the ride to her, but once she had opened, his head was empty, and for a moment he could do nothing but open and close his mouth like a fish out of water. "Detective… Chloe," he then had started, "I know what you saw wasn't easy to bear. That it is something completely different when I tell you that I am the devil than to see my face, to see the real me. And I can understand that you are afraid. I don't want to frighten you. And my biggest fear would be losing you, but if you want me to go, if that's your wish, then I'll go." He'd breathed deeply and waited anxiously for her answer, while the voice inside his head repeated again and again ' _Please say no, please say no_ ' and then, after what felt like aeons, she finally answered him.

"I don't want you to go," she'd said with such a sweet, soothing voice that he wanted nothing more than to jump forward and take her in a firm embrace, but he couldn't. He still saw the fear in her eyes, the grief, and his heart had become heavy, as if to crush him.

She must have seen the hurt in his eyes, because then she had told him, "See you tomorrow, Lucifer. Yeah? At work", offering him a tiny straw of hope and he had grasped it with both hands.

He'd smiled at her and nodded and confirmed to her, "Tomorrow it is, then."

But after that, it hadn't been the same.

She spoke to him. Occasionally. About cases. About his opinion about certain suspects or motives. But whenever he wanted to talk to her about that day, about what had happened, she shut down and either changed the subject or uttered her infamous words, "See you tomorrow, Lucifer."

It became routine. Somehow. An agonising, strength-sapping routine that filled him with fear as soon as he intended to tell her something. And it was ridiculous that he, the devil, the one that mankind itself feared, was afraid to hear those tiny words. But these four words meant the world to him, the cruellest and most terrible world: they meant hell.

He hadn't been out in those three weeks. Hadn't gone to parties or meetings with random people. Only had sex about five times, not because he wanted it, but because he hoped to distract himself. But it hadn't helped. He had no desire for anything. He didn't want to do anything. All he wanted was to have Chloe by his side. And above all, he wanted to talk. But the problem was: she didn't want to. And that tore him to pieces. It drove him crazy. He didn't know what to do about it. Not even Dr. Linda was useful. Yes, she had offered him to go to her and talk to her, from woman-who-knows-about-divinity to woman-who-now-knows-about-divinity, but he refused. He wanted Chloe to talk to him. Not with Dr. Linda. And if he was really honest with himself, not with Dan either. Only with him. As selfish as that sounded.

"Damn it!" he suddenly shouted, bringing himself back to the here and now. He tossed the glass to the floor, watching its pieces slide across the ground, and he grumbled quietly, then turned around and walked towards his door. He needed distraction!

He'd needed a lot of distraction from his mind, lately. And it always turned out the same way. First he took his car until he was tired of driving through the streets of L.A., then he parked it somewhere and went for a walk. And somehow, no matter where he was, his feet took him to the only place his heart desired. He would stop as soon as he recognised the familiar row of houses, and first he would think about returning home, but he never succeeded. So he would walk along the path until he came to her garden entrance, and then he carefully opened the garden door and watched her from the protective shadows of the trees and the night. He watched her sitting on the couch, reading a book, or watching TV with her offspring, or walking around, cleaning her house of the chaos Maze had left behind once again, and he saw the lightness in her eyes, the occasional smile. How he missed her smile. He missed her.

It was the same today. She had been discharged from hospital a day or two ago and was still on medical leave. Dan had taken her child to give her some time for herself. He didn't know that because he was stalking her. Albeit, he'd rather call it ' _keeping an eye on her_ '. No! Maze had informed him. He hadn't even asked her. But his face had brightened when he had received her message telling him that Chloe would be alone for the next three days since she's on a hunt. He didn't know why she had told him, and actually, he didn't really care.

So there he was, standing in her garden watching her. His stomach turned painfully from all the rage he was holding inside, for Dan was with her. They sat on her couch, chatting, smiling. A gap between them, big enough to fit two people there, but still, that couldn't stop him from clenching his fists and gritting his teeth and wishing he could let go of at least some of that pent-up rage on the Douche.

Then suddenly they got up. Chloe walked him to the door, and Lucifer quickly went through the garden to watch them say goodbye. He didn't know what he had expected or feared; a warm hug and said 'bye' to each other, however, was not.

"You know," her voice suddenly sounded when she was alone, and his heart stopped beating. "Dan had also lost someone then. He needs comfort." She said it to no one specific, her gaze was still straight out, but she knew that he was listening. She knew he was there.

He was stunned and perplexed and couldn't do anything but stare at her standing there, wearing her long sweater with skintight leggings, her arms folded in front of her chest, her hair hanging loosely over her shoulders. She looked like an angel. And if he hadn't already been in love with her, he was certain that at that moment he would have fallen for her forever. And this fall, he wouldn't have minded at all.

She suddenly turned around, went back inside and he hurried forward, hoping to take a brief glimpse of her before she closed the door. Again she surprised him. For the door was still widely open, and she stood beside it, leaning against it. She had been waiting for him.

He swallowed nervously, unsure about what to say or do.

"You wanna come inside or not?" she then asked. Not angry. Not impatient. It was almost a warm question and it calmed his heart as if she had just given him a kiss. He nodded quickly, stepped in and stood there, awkwardly watching her close the door not knowing what to, and then followed her on the couch like a good little devil as she walked over to it.

She returned to her seat without losing a word. Her hands grabbed the blanket next to her and she wrapped it around herself to get some comfort.

And he sat down on the other side, all silent himself.

"I just figured you could keep me company in here," she mentioned as she wrapped the blanket around her a little tighter before adding, "For a change."

Again Lucifer was completely stunned and his head empty. He wouldn't even have been able to bring anything out of his mouth, even if he had known what to say. That was something only she could trigger in him. Did she... know… that she could do that? Was she… aware… of it?

As if he had spoken his thoughts out loud, she answered suddenly, "I knew you were there. I saw you." She turned her head to him to look at him without really looking him in the eyes. "And the last time," she confessed with a nod. "And the times before," she then added.

His cheeks began to fill with heat, and he looked down on the coffee table as he gathered all the remaining courage he had left inside of him. He dared a glance at her, and for the first time in this whole time she gave him a little smile as she said, "You're not really good at hiding… and also not very subtle."

He swallowed. She had just told him something to be ashamed of, but he couldn't help but smile as the warmth spread within him and broke through his heart. She had smiled at him. An honest, genuine smile. "I'm sorry," he muttered, but with the feeling still in him and his lips spread across his cheeks, those words almost sounded like a chuckle. "I didn't want to frighten you," he apologised profoundly.

"You didn't frighten me," she assured him.

"No," he shook his head, correcting her, "I meant then, in the loft. I really didn't want to frighten you."

Chloe took a deep breath and then, to his surprise, she repeated, slower and more meaningful this time, "Lucifer, you _didn't_ frighten me."

"But," he stammered, momentarily lost for words. Again. "I've seen your face… You were… terrified."

She took another deep breath, thinking back, and then nodded slightly, but declared decisively, "I was terrified, but not of you." He was about to protest again, when she explained, "I was terrified of the situation. The meaning of it. The truth it revealed." And suddenly the sorrow was back in her face, settling down like an old lady would do in her favourite chair she'd been sitting on since childhood.

It broke his heart to see her like that. To see the pain so visibly in her eyes. "Is that the reason you avoided me?"

She nodded and her eyes sparkled from the little tear drops that had filled their corners. "Seeing that face on you-" Her voice broke when the moment had finally come that she had avoided for so long. It wasn't the ideal time she'd imagined in her head. It wasn't the perfect moment, but she couldn't go back now. "I still know very vividly what I had said to you after you went AWOL on me for two weeks," she began and breathed deeply again. Her hands went up to her cheeks and wiped off the small traces that her tears had left. "The speech I gave you," she continued with a slight shiver in her voice. "That I couldn't rely on you because you left me, our partnership. And when I saw that face and realised you had been telling me the truth all along. That you didn't lie to me. You weren't crazy. You..." She paused to swallow the lump in her throat and wiped away the fresh tears that had fled from her eyes. Her lips trembled as she thought back to the moment Malcolm had shot him, and she muttered, "You really died for me to protect me. And I didn't believe you just because I didn't want to believe. Because it was easier for me that way. I chose not to believe you. And during all the years of our partnership I closed my eyes to all the evidence, and I never-"

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Lucifer interrupted her, his voice calm and warm. Seeing the arm of her resting at her side, he moved a little closer to her in the hope that he could grasp her hand and comfort her a little, but before he was even near her, she raised that arm as if she wanted to interrupt him too, and she countered with determination in her eyes.

"No, Lucifer! At that moment, when I saw your face, I recognised that you couldn't rely on me all these years. Not even once. You couldn't confide in me what was really bothering you because I just didn't want to hear it. And yet you trusted me. You protected me. You stayed by my side… Lucifer I have taken all the advantages of our partnership and left you with nothing."

He firmly shook his head to contradict her. He didn't feel that way at all. But he didn't want to interrupt her either. After all, it was exactly what he had wanted and it felt so good that she finally talked to him again.

"All this time, I was a terrible partner to you. And a terrible friend. And right now, there is nothing but pain left inside of me because it hurts so much to know how much I've actually hurt you," she disclosed to him.

Instantly his gentle voice arose, not being able to hold back any longer. "You didn't hurt me, Detective. Not once!"

"I shot you!" she countered to prove him wrong.

"I wanted you to shoot me!" he corrected her, determined.

Chloe searched through her head for another example of her failure. Finding one, she stated, "That case, when we were chasing that sniper. I knew something big was on your mind from the way you acted. That something was troubling you and I wasn't there for you. You had no one to talk to and instead of helping you, I yelled at you. This nearly got you killed!" she reminded him to make her point.

Again Lucifer shook his head and moved a bit closer to her. This time she didn't withdraw and he wrapped his hands around hers and lowered his head to look her right in the eyes as he told her, "I didn't want to talk to you at that time. Believe me, Detective, you couldn't have helped me in that situation even if you had known about all this." He smiled at her warmly, and raised his thumb to brush away the new trail of tears from her cheek. "It wasn't your fault," he assured her, and then he softly whispered, "Don't torment yourself, my dear."

It was like he'd cast a spell over her. She felt the warmth of his hands around hers and on her cheek and she wanted more of it. She wanted to feel him all the way. Without warning she darted forward, wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed him tightly to herself. "I am so sorry," she whispered close to his ear. "I am so terribly sorry!"

"There's nothing to apologise for, Detective. You didn't do anything wrong," he assured her. It had surprised him, her sudden hug, but he had quickly regained his grip and also put his arms around her body and pressed her even tighter against himself.

Only their breaths were audible, slow and steady, as they held each other. No one wanted to let go and possibly lose that soothing feeling that had spread out in both of them. Especially not Lucifer, as he finally felt complete again. Yet his conscience reminded him of what it had been like with Linda back then and he gently mentioned, "You must have a lot of questions."

A loud sigh came over Chloe's lips as she admitted, "I don't even know where to start." Now that she couldn't put that truth off any more, the questions just bubbled into her head and bounced around like a bunch of little school kids trying to get to a task first. One question war particularly persistent, and so she shyly asked, "Did you really go down to hell for me?"

"Yes," he replied so casually that she flinched slightly, then eased the grip around him a little bit to look at him directly, and then asked, "And did you… fly there?"

He suppressed a soft chuckle and mentioned calmly, "Well, at that time I didn't have my wings back yet."

"You have wings?" she interrupted him, completely forgetting that her previous question actually implied this. It was just too new for her mind to keep track.

"Of course!" Lucifer affirmed. He looked directly into her eyes and reminded her matter-of-factly, "How else could I have protected you from the hail of bullets and then flown you up to the roof?"

Her mouth was slightly open as her mind sorted in this information and she suddenly remembered, "Wings like the ones we saw at the auction?"

He nodded, but then clarified, "Well, they weren't real, obviously, but they were pretty close to the original."

She swallowed and then took a deep breath. "And," she began and picked up her initial question again, "You didn't have them when you went down to hell to get me the antidote?"

He shook his head briefly and breathed a "no" so quietly she almost didn't hear it.

"How did you do that then?" she replied at the same soft volume.

"I died," he simply said and shrugged his shoulders once.

Chloe was flabbergasted and had to swallow the shock down before her system continued its work. "You really died?" she confirmed herself once more and when she heard his clear "yes", she immediately wanted to fall around his neck again and beg him never to do something like that any more, but then she reminded herself that he was right beside her, alive, breathing, and she calmed herself down with the thought that dying was probably not the same for him as for her. "And that's your thing, right? I mean, if someone shoots you or something happens to you, you just die and then come back, right?" she checked again, trying to sound nonchalant but it wasn't possible for her to keep the worry and hope that this statement also contained out of her voice.

"No!" Lucifer denied and when he saw the frown on her face, immediately followed by deep concern, he sighed. ' _This explanation requires a more comfortable position than the half-turned one of my upper body_ ', he silently told himself and embraced her again. With her firmly pressed to himself, he let himself fall backwards, then he adjusted himself a little on the couch until he lay snugly on it, and she half on him with her head resting on his chest. One of his hands grasped her fingers, caressing them, intertwining with them, while his other hand moved along her back to gently stroke her. "Normally human weapons can't touch me," he explained calmly. "Bullets, for example, would just bounce off me. I couldn't cut myself even if I wanted to. But, well..." he paused, not quite knowing how to best continue with this. "You… make me vulnerable to such things."

"I make you vulnerable?" she asked in a mixture of doubt and concern.

"Yes," he breathed with a sigh.

"How's that?"

"Well," he sigh again. In his head he had imagined it all much simpler, he had to admit. More like: I'm the devil, you're a human being, but we like each other, so let's hook up. And not that he had to fish every word out of his brain one by one. But he couldn't just blabber away. After all, he didn't want to reveal too much of himself all at once. "Because," he began and his hand glided up her back until he could grasp her shoulders and then press her closer. "It's, well..." he stammered on.

"Is it me?" Chloe uttered the only logical conclusion she could draw from his stuttering. This new look at the world gradually became very interesting for her, although it also irritated her to see him stammer like that, in this sweet, almost sexy way.

"Well, somehow… yes, but actually… not. It's more… my… feelings… towards you?" he disclosed and silently cursed at himself. He rather sounded like a broken record than the self-confident angel he actually was. Fallen angel, he quickly corrected himself.

"Was that a question?" she replied and couldn't help smirking at him. This new side of him was simply too cute.

"No, a statement!" he clarified with a firm voice and then the words just fell out of him without a filter, "Well, I'm not a hundred percent sure, but this comes pretty close when you consider that you also made Pierce mortal."

Chloe stared at him in bewilderment. "I made him mortal?" she asked confusedly. She only heard a smug "yes" from him and asked again to make sure, "He wasn't mortal before?" In her head the first worried thoughts popped up. Did she have sex with another species?

"Well, he was human," he replied, completely overhearing the relieved sigh next to his ear, "but he couldn't die because Dad didn't want him to."

"And by Dad you mean-" she didn't finish her sentence, pointed her finger upwards instead and swallowed when he simply nodded. "The actual," she cut herself off and quickly changed the topic, as this was an area she wasn't yet ready to explore. "So, Pierce was mortal because of me." Not waiting for his confirmation this time, she quickly added, "Why?"

He shrugged and before he understood what he was revealing he stated, "Well, because he fell in love with you."

"Uh-huh," Chloe said slowly as the wheels in her head spun, connecting the dots. "So, he fell in love with me which made him mortal," she mumbled casually, "And I make you vulnerable, too." Now she couldn't hold back the grin that had spread on her lips and stretched them widely.

Her sight made him even more nervous and he feared that he had just said something to her he would have better kept to himself. His instinct was to leave now, but he didn't want to interrupt the cuddling with her either. It felt good to have her so close after he hadn't even come one foot near her these past three endless weeks. And that feeling was hard to let go of. "Do you have any other questions, Detective?" he said when the silence had become too quiet for him. He blinked down to her, saw only the huge grin on those soft lips and quickly turned away as if embarrassed.

"No," she denied and shook her head. Still grinning, she countered, "have you?"

"Well," he began and dared one more look at her. There it was again, the huge, inviting smile on her lips. The sparkle in her eyes. The soft skin of her face that he would love to caress continuously, and only one thought came to him. "Well, there is a question. A small one, so to speak," he noted. "Would you like to," he broke himself off when he considered the words too ridiculous and tried it with a different approach. "Would you mind-" again he interrupted himself. It just didn't seem right to ask her something like that. Especially since he had never needed to ask such things before, but somehow it didn't seem right for him to just-

Before he could finish his thoughts, Chloe had already reached up to him, grabbed his cheeks and gently pressed her lips onto his. He was startled for a moment, but then he relaxed quickly and gave in to the kiss. How sweet it tasted. How soft her lips were, even softer that he remembered, and his heart pounded loudly in his chest, and his blood rushed through his veins as the arousal rose in him. When he felt her lips move away from him, he quickly grabbed around her, pulled her back close and pressed his mouth firmly against her. His tongue darted forward, running along her lips and requesting entry, and when she granted it, he gently slipped into her mouth and gave himself completely to her sweet taste. Their kiss intensified and he flipped her over, gently pressing her into the couch so she could relax her head while he explored her mouth further. A soft moan escaped her throat spurring him further on but then he felt her gently pushing against him and he lifted his head to end the kiss.

Still completely out of breath, she jokingly rebuked him, "Really, Lucifer. I give you a finger and you take the whole hand immediately?"

"Damn right, you are," he replied just as jokingly. "But not only the whole hand, my dear. I'll take your whole heavenly body right away!" He pressed his lips back on hers, stifling her giggle with another deep kiss. Before they were out of breath this time, however, Chloe gently pushed against him once again. He broke the kiss and pulled them around so she was lying back on his chest.

There was a sudden hint of sadness in her eyes when she looked at him this time, and she asked softly, "You don't age, do you? I mean, not like us, right? You don't grow old," she stated, continuing the words in silence ' _with me_ '.

He shook his head and smiled, but the sadness was already in his face as well. "No, I won't" he confirmed quietly.

"And when I die, I will never see you again?"

He pressed his lips together and thought for a moment about giving her a beautiful, more hopeful answer, but no matter how he turned it around, there simply was none that wasn't a lie. And he would never lie to her. "No," he gently confirmed to her and the knowledge about it made his heart heavier. "Unless you suddenly decide to sin. In this case you would go down to Hell. But I won't let that happen," he made clear to her with a light shake of his head.

"Well, I guess we just have to make the most of it now," she replied determinedly, the sadness disappeared from her again.

"Yes, indeed," he fully agreed with her and a devilish grin accompanied him as he turned them both around again and once more pressed his lips against hers.

She wanted to give herself completely to his kiss when she noticed how his hand slipped deeper and deeper down on her. She quickly tilted her head back, gave him a little slap against his shoulder and scolded him sternly, "Lucifer! When I said ' _make the most of it now_ ' I didn't mean ' _right now_ ' in any way!"

"Oh, my bad, Detective," he apologised with a smug grin, not sorry at all.

"You are one little wicked-"

"I am the devil!" he interrupted her rebuke, smiling determined.

"Yes, indeed you are," she replied gently and thoughtfully, as if this fact had only now completely sunk into her. She sighed deeply, but then her heart became lighter again and she added, being absolutely serious, "But not for me! For me, you are only Lucifer, my dear and overly protective partner."

Lucifer grinned at her, his heart so light he grasped tighter around her for fear he could float away. "Let me show you how dear I can be to you," he quipped and bent down again to continue the kiss.

* * *

 **A/N:** The end. I hope you liked it. Please leave a comment and let me know :D

Have a nice day!

:o)


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